F/A-18 STGB Chat

[Tim Moff]

Apparently there are some F/A-18Fs now in Aggressor/Adversary roles …. Just no 1/48 decal releases as yet ?! Hint hint !

 

some stunning schemes seen here :

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/37634/these-are-the-proposed-paint-schemes-for-the-navys-new-adversary-super-hornets

 

And here 

 

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41187/u-s-navy-adversary-unit-reveals-super-hornet-masquerading-as-russias-top-fighter

 

 

 

 

[gingerbob]

On 1/6/2022 at 4:46 PM, Adam Maas said:

Out of curiosity, what hasn't we seen yet?

 

 

Glad you asked- yesterday morning [that is, a couple days before official start] I made a tally, and last night I updated it with the day's activities.  I'll attempt to maintain it as the build goes on.

 

Here are some stats: (note that I've lumped some together because when you consider, for example, Canadian or Antipodean ones, it can be hard- for me at least- to distinguish.  Also, the various breakdowns may not all add up to the same total.  Hey, it is a fluid situation!)

 

YF-17: 1

A/C single-seaters: 33

B/D two-seaters: 8

E: 9

F: 18

G: 5

 

Kit manufacturers:

Hasegawa: 25, of which 14 are 1/72 [This includes one posing as an Eduard kit ("Super Bug")]

Academy: 19 - only one is 48th, and mostly A/C models

Revell: 11, hitting all the "major" scales!

Meng: 6, all "super" and all 48th

Kinetic: 4 - 48th (single and two-seat legacy)

Italeri: 2, 72nd, "super" dual build and a new Swiss legacy [Nope: a second lost sheep brought back to the flock of Academy!]

Monogram: 2 - 48th, legacy kit of the legacy type

Dragon: 2 1/144 Es, in a dual build

Hobby Boss: 1 (C) 48th

Anigrand: 1 (YF-17)

and... Airfix: 2  This being Britmodeller, it only seems proper...

 

In service with:

Australia: 9 (both generations)

Canada: 7 (single and two-seater)

Finland: 1

Spain: 2

Switzerland: 3 (I think; single and two-seater)

US Navy: about 47, including 3 Blue Angels, and SEVEN VFA-103 "Jolly Rogers" (!) with a number of builds not yet determined, at least by me.  I guess it shows we'd rather be pirates than angels, deep down inside...

USMC: 1

NASA: 2

plus YF-17 prototype: 1

 

There are 60 of us participating, of whom 10 or 11 are doing two (and now a brave soul doing three 48ths!)- and I know there are a few more who are experiencing temptation, judging by the pics of stashes I've seen!

 

Edit: oops, one more way of counting:

1/32: 1 (Revell)

1/48: 27 (11 Hasegawa, 6 Meng, 4 Kinetic)

1/72: 37 (18 Academy, 14 Hasegawa)

1/144: 8 (all Revell except 2 Dragon being built by srkirad)

 

Edited March 2, 2022 by gingerbob
updated to 0400 (Eastern US time) 2 March

[Alan P]

1 hour ago, Tim Moff said:

Apparently there are some F/A-18Fs now in Aggressor/Adversary roles ….some stunning schemes seen here :

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/37634/these-are-the-proposed-paint-schemes-for-the-navys-new-adversary-super-hornets

Good find! Those disruptive schemes at the end are superb.

[Alan P]

15 minutes ago, gingerbob said:

Still room for at least one 1/32nd!

Yeah, got that covered...😉

 

[Sierra Mike Sierra]

9 minutes ago, gingerbob said:

if there's a Marine one I'm going to hear about it!

I am in with a Kinetic F/A-18D ATARS. Not sure yet if it shall be VMFA-533 or VMFA-332. The decals I have allow to build both operating from Tazsar AB, Hungary during  Operation Allied Force. Not colourful, though...

[Adam Maas]

16 hours ago, Anatol Pigwa said:

 

This is where the Hornet designations get interesting: 

 

Let's start at looking at Wikipedia (sorry I have no better sources at this time):

 

F-18(R)

This was a proposed reconnaissance version of the F/A-18A. It included a sensor package that replaced the 20 mm cannon. The first of two prototypes flew in August 1984. Small numbers were produced.[124]

RF-18D

Proposed two-seat reconnaissance version for the US Marine Corps in the mid-1980s. It was to carry a radar reconnaissance pod. The system was canceled after it was unfunded in 1988. This ability was later realized on the F/A-18D(RC).[124]

 

 

 

The F/A-18D(RC) is a two-seater as per the D designation, while the Italeri Kit shows an A (single seater) and should probably be the F-18(R) kit designation RF-18A

 

However Testors kitted the RF-18D Two Seater which is probably the F/A-18D(RC) you are reffering to.  

 

I've been digging into this a little more.

As far as I can tell, the F-18 (R) was just two of the pre-production A airframes refitted with the nose camera system in place of the gun. Functionally, that was the prototypes for the FA-18D (RC), which have the same basic system in the nose plus the ATARS pods to make up the full ATARS system. Not sure why they are saying 'small numbers were produced' because only the two prototypes were built/converted of the single-seat version.

The RF-18D was a proposal for the USMC RF-4 replacement (the Navy had TARPS so they didn't need it with the Midway's being retired), which got killed in favour of the more capable ATARS when the USAF started up that program and allowed the USMC to join it. ATARS ws originally a USAF system for the F-16 but without built-in camera capability. When the USAF decided they didn't need the capability in 1993, the USMC took over the program and brought it to production alongside the F/A-18D (RC) airframes to carry the ATARS pods.

Functionally, the current F/A-18D (RC) is the F-18 (R) nose camera system in a D jet, wired for ATARS pods. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Adam Maas

[Bertie McBoatface]

9 hours ago, Tim Moff said:

Apparently there are some F/A-18Fs now in Aggressor/Adversary roles …. Just no 1/48 decal releases as yet ?! Hint hint !

 

some stunning schemes seen here :

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/37634/these-are-the-proposed-paint-schemes-for-the-navys-new-adversary-super-hornets

 

And here 

 

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41187/u-s-navy-adversary-unit-reveals-super-hornet-masquerading-as-russias-top-fighter

 

 

 

 

 

Oh my!

[Lex77]

22 hours ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

Thanks, I've got the True Decals 1/72 set. Was the show at Fairford?

No it was at Gilze Rijen (NL). Got the decals aswell from Leading Edge in 1/48.

Went to Fairford for the first time in 1993.

[Anatol Pigwa]

Good Morning and welcome to the first day of the GB.

 

first I'd like to thank you all for participating. in this STGB, not only with your builds but also your valuable input and support.

 

@gingerbob published already GBs statistics, I have made some graphs for your viewing pleasure:

 

 

Breakdown by version- as you can see the A/C/E/F versions are the majority as expected and their numbers are fairly evenly matched.

 

Breakdown by scale and manufacturer: There is a strong preference for Hasegawa and Academy in 1/72 (unsurprisingly since they are regarded as the go to versions for the Hornet in 1/72) in 1/48 we have a lot more variety, with Meng and Hasegawa leading the pack)  

 

 

Versions by manufacturer: - Hasegawa and Academy provide the biggest variety in this STGB, While Meng is the benchmark for the F/A-18F in 1/48th   

 

Breakdown by operator: USN 1st, RAAF 2nd, RCAF 3rd. This is not surprising. What is surprising, that the Swiss and Spanish get more attention than the USMC (yet?) 

 

 

Breakdown by Squadron: The Jolly Rogers are an absolute favourite with five builds There seems to be an error in this graph though as I am pretty sure we have 2 Blue Angels entries) .

 

I hope to update the statistics with more data, like the Livery (Line bird, Special scheme) and Scheme (Grey, standard Camo, Digital Camo, Tiger Meet, CAG Bird).

 

A question to the pros here - how do I efficently export Graphs from Excel as images in a decent size and quality? I noticed that the ones I placed here are a little bit small...

Edited January 8, 2022 by Anatol Pigwa

[Paul J]

It looks like a lot of enthusiastic Hornet modellers active here.  May I show off my Hornet builds I still have and the decal sets?......

 

439 Squadron Tiger meet CF-18.  Academy kit

Above:  CF-18D of a Cold Lake  AETE machine.  From the Hasegawa kit.

Above: a regular schemed CF-18 armed and ready for a mission south.   Academy kit.  I did have a few more which were Italeri kits and have now been sold as part of my built collection cullin.

 The set on the right is a contender for my first build and have a couple spare stets.

 

 

And my decals stash. One or two of them I have duplicates that could go to wanting homes. All 1/72nd.   I have another set in the For Sale thread.

 

But for me , I need to choose one for this GB and possibly a second one.

[Freester]

Am I too late to throw my hat in the ring for this GB?

[Freester]

1 hour ago, Anatol Pigwa said:

 

A question to the pros here - how do I efficently export Graphs from Excel as images in a decent size and quality? I noticed that the ones I placed here are a little bit small...

https://excelribbon.tips.net/T001775_Creating_a_JPG_File_from_a_Chart.html

[gingerbob]

1 hour ago, Freester said:

Am I too late to throw my hat in the ring for this GB?

 

Certainly not- the party's just getting started!

[Sierra Mike Sierra]

The Grand Box Opening 🕟

 

[Freester]

2 hours ago, gingerbob said:

 

Certainly not- the party's just getting started!

 

OK my son and I have a 'carrier based' plane project going. This GB falls into that nicely. I was going to just get the cheapo Italeri 1/72 but was advised a bit further up in this thread the Academy was a bit more bang for buck for a few more quid (apologies for mixing currencies in the same sentence), it landed on my doorstep today! I'm a real noob on here and this is my first GB. Do I just start a new thread in this sub forum as my GB 'WIP' now?

[modelling minion]

19 minutes ago, Freester said:

. Do I just start a new thread in this sub forum as my GB 'WIP' now?

Yes you can just start a thread going at any time once the GB is open, which it already is.

Look forward to your build.

[Bertie McBoatface]

27 minutes ago, Freester said:

I'm a real noob on here

 

Welcome to the madhouse! You'll love it here. We are all friendly.

[gingerbob]

15 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

We are all friendly.

 

Well, except for that one guy, but we mostly ignore him.

[Bertie McBoatface]

1 hour ago, gingerbob said:

 

Well, except for that one guy, but we mostly ignore him.

 

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten him.

 

 

😄

[Mig Eater]

I'm thinking of joining in with the "Black Eagle" from the computer game Red Alert 2. It's basically an F/A-18 with the wings flipped & a single tail. Wondering if this would be to what-ify for this GB though..?

 

[Sanjuro]

On 1/8/2022 at 12:34 PM, Anatol Pigwa said:

... how do I efficently export Graphs from Excel as images in a decent size and quality?....

 

Right-click on the chart and select Save as Picture.

Choose the image format you want e.g. .jpg or .png

 

or

 

save your chart as an image by simply copying and pasting.

Ctrl + C, or right-click and select Copy -> paste it in your image software (paint ?)

Save it as e.g. as jpg.

 

Hope this helps

[vppelt68]

I'm off to bed so I'll read possible replies to this in the morning. Anyways, I assembled the nose of my Academy 1:72 C kit and while on the roll, I also added the closed nose landing gear bay doors. I can tell you my friends in South Korea hadn't made that easy, and I think they hadn't even checked their fit in that position. Well mine are now glued shut and I'll live with them, though they are far from good. Maybe it's just me . V-P

[Tim Moff]

OK - so unknown territory for me here - wheels down builds - my garage ceiling is kinda congested so I am getting a display cabinet from Ikea...so I will have to start selectively build and paint those wheel thingies....

 

Anyone know if this Italeri/Academy 1/48 F/A-18F needs nose weight...if so what to people use? Fishing lead shot? How much? Super glued in? The instructions have the nose weight symbol in the icon descriptions but it does not have the symbol used in the actual build instructions....this indicates to me not needed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really don't want a tail sitter for my first 1/48 wheels down build!!!

 

Any advice/tips most welcome - thanks in advance!

[modelling minion]

26 minutes ago, Tim Moff said:

I really don't want a tail sitter for my first 1/48 wheels down build!!!

I have heard that it isn't needed for Hornets but I have erred on the side of caution and added some just in case.

[Freester]

Well some serious progress looking across the threads and some outstanding work.

 

So far I've started my thread 'WIP' thread. Washed my sprues, I'm waiting for a key paint colour to be delivered. But should be able to make a start before then... Some pre assembly painting and dry fitting...